Job Descriptions: Very Useful, But Beware of the Vulnerabilities

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Well-developed job descriptions are very useful and purposeful. They can provide employers with recruiting standards and a basis for planning and managing their workforce needs.

Equally important, when worker job duties are described in plain, clear language, employers and employees alike will benefit.  Furthermore, a well-crafted job description can help strengthen an employer’s position should a legal matter arise.  

Even so, there are a number of big-picture pitfalls that employers must watch out for when developing job descriptions. The pitfalls involve human resources (HR) management issues in areas such as:

• Performance expectations
• Compensation strategies
• Candidate pools (attracting the most qualified, etc.)
   

Certainly it would take volumes to adequately cover all the specific pitfalls associated with developing job descriptions. However, employers can start out by further examining some of the most common areas of vulnerabilities.    

Among them:

1. Exempt versus non-exempt classifications.  Mistakes can happen when employers do not accurately describe what a position entails or how determinations are made about exempt versus non-exempt classifications. For instance, for an Administrative Exemption, employers must consider how much discretionary power and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance are exercised in a given position. Certain tests must be analyzed or met. For example: How much time will someone in this position spend on managing business operations? How much authority to make financial decisions or make commitments on behalf of the company will be involved?  What will be the decision-making responsibilities?  Numerous factors must be considered when determining how employees are classified. It’s not an easy process, and employers cannot look only at a job title in order to make classification determinations. They must consider and prepare to justify what an employee in that position will be doing on a day-to-day basis.
2. Wage and salary administration or compensation strategies.  As stated before, employers must be careful that a job description accurately reflects what the worker will be doing. But, in addition to that, the job description should also include information about areas such as education levels and experience requirements. Again, a job title alone will not help or automatically fill in those blanks. Employers should research the market in order to determine what other similar positions are paying. These benchmarks help maintain a competitive compensation structure.  As a cautionary note—if the position duties are exaggerated or if the level of education is exaggerated, you cannot accurately determine what that position is worth. Or, conversely, if underplayed, you may not have an appropriate pay structure in place for that position.  Employers should also consider another very important matter: the ‘internal alignment issue.’  You want to be sure that employees are paid at the same levels as other employees within the organization based upon the position’s duties and required levels of education, skill, knowledge or responsibility.
3. Legal liability concerns.  Employers must be very careful that they have covered their bases from a legal perspective. Picture this: You are sitting on the witness stand in a court room. You may be asked to explain why a job description is written the way it is. Not only that, you will have to be able to clearly communicate or clarify the job description content in ways that a judge or a jury can easily understand. It happens: Employers may be faced with a discrimination claim or, for instance, a compliance action based on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). So it is very important that employers are prepared to protect themselves on a legal basis.
4. Candidate pool and workplace recruiting concerns.  Employers will want to be sensitive about and aware how job descriptions can affect attracting and recruiting qualified candidates. As described in number two above, you will want to make sure that the job description verbiage does not understate, overstate or exaggerate the responsibilities of a position. This precaution also relates to stating required education and experience levels. This is because you could end up limiting your candidate pool by stating that a higher level of education is required than is really necessary for that position. Likewise, when the job description verbiage is overly inflated, you could end up with an overly-qualified, but unhappy and bored employee in that position.

The above are intended as general guidance in order to help employers understand a few vulnerabilities associated with developing well-crafted job descriptions.  When employers want to ensure that they are remaining in compliance with federal, state and local laws, it is best to seek definitive guidance from legal counsel or an HR professional.

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